The Last Doctor

Do you ever want to go home?

I miss my home back when I had my old flesh, even now I miss the soft winds. Life wasn't perfect back in those days. You had the riots, the wars and the politics but there was a better world hidden under it. I never fought in those days when I truly should have. I sat in my nice college classrooms away from the rivers of blood surrounding it. I didn't really think about it much until the stars and stripes were torn down. To see the company's flag in its place felt wrong. I always kept an old flag in my home so that I could still remember the past. When I was a much older more accomplished man with a few scientific awards on my shelf I remembered that flag. My great grandchild sat in my lap and pointed at the flag, "What is that grandfather?". I pressed my fingers through her hair as I talked about my home. My steel fingers must have been so cold to the touch. My story continued as I talked about my home and it's history. "But grandfather, that was a thousand years ago" she said to me. I blinked and she was gone, replaced by another small child. I couldn't be that old could I? I blinked again and I was surrounded by family I did not know. They called me grandfather but I did not know any of them.

I asked one of them if they knew where my son was. He looked sad and never answered that question. Each day it was different people, different faces claiming to be family. I stopped seeing them anymore as I stayed in my lab. The company just asked for me to work on projects and for a time it kept my mind at rest. Time does not change how wires are arranged or how I write programs. Then some day I received word from the company. My services were no longer required or useful anymore. I left my lab, there was nobody outside waiting for me. I sat alone in this place with no purpose, only melancholic memories of my life so long ago. I wished that I still had a stomach so I could drink myself away. There was a knock at the door and my metal hands slowly pulled it open. A company man stood their with a little girl in front of him. "Are you Doctor Herron?" "Yes" "Hello I'm from the company, this is your descendant and she has been put in your care". I stared at the small girl and brought her in. I had forgot what people eat, I hadn't made a meal since I was much younger. She gave me purpose once again in my life, I wouldn't lose my family again. I kept my eyes opened as long as I could. Each year I took care of her and taught her what I could. Her head rested upon my mechanical lap as she slept. My hand going through her hair as I remembered the past. My eyes were heavy but I would not blink again.

She had grown into a young woman and brought a family into my home. My mind had burned with pain every second. I wrapped my arms around her but the pain broke me and I blinked. My family was gone, I was alone once again. You don't know the pain it is to not be able to cry when that is all you feel. The steel and wires of my lab beckoned once more. I don't know how long I stayed in my lab as I waited for some sort of death to come and take me. Alas no death came but eventually I grew tired of the churn of gears and my ancient classical music playing in the background. I left my lab and looked around and saw nothing. There was no person in sight in this dead,black city.